Cucumber variety NUN 55516 CUP

ABSTRACT

The invention provides a new and distinct hybrid variety of Cucumber, NUN 55516 CUP as well as seeds and plants and fruits thereof.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Patent ApplicationSer. No. 62/428,664, filed Dec. 1, 2016 and titled CUCUMBER VARIETY NUN55516 CUP, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of plant breeding and, morespecifically, to the development of NUN 55516 CUP (also designated asNUN 55516 or NUN 55516 F1 or NUN 55516 hybrid). The invention furtherrelates to vegetative reproductions of NUN 55516 CUP, methods for tissueculture of NUN 55516 CUP and regenerating a plant from such a tissueculture and also to phenotypic variants of NUN 55516 CUP.

The goal of vegetable breeding is to combine various desirable traits ina single variety/hybrid. Such desirable traits may include greateryield, resistance to diseases, insects or other pests, tolerance to heatand drought, better agronomic quality, higher nutritional value,enhanced growth rate and improved fruit properties.

Breeding techniques take advantage of a plant's method of pollination.There are two general methods of pollination: a plant self-pollinates ifpollen from one flower is transferred to the same or another flower ofthe same genotype. A plant cross-pollinates if pollen comes to it from aflower of a different genotype.

Plants that have been self-pollinated and selected for (uniform) typeover many generations become homozygous at almost all gene loci andproduce a uniform population of true breeding progeny of homozygousplants. A cross between two such homozygous plants of different linesproduces a uniform population of hybrid plants that are heterozygous formany gene loci. The extent of heterozygosity in the hybrid is a functionof the genetic distance between the parents. Conversely, a cross of twoplants each heterozygous at a number of loci produces a segregatingpopulation of hybrid plants that differ genetically and are not uniform.The resulting non-uniformity makes performance unpredictable.

The development of uniform varieties requires the development ofhomozygous inbred plants, the crossing of these inbred plants to makehybrids, and the evaluation of the hybrids resulting from the crosses.Pedigree breeding and recurrent selection are examples of breedingmethods that have been used to develop inbred plants from breedingpopulations. Those breeding methods combine the genetic backgrounds fromtwo or more plants or various other broad-based sources into breedingpools from which new lines are developed by selfing and selection ofdesired phenotypes. The new plants are evaluated to determine which havecommercial potential. One crop species which has been subject to suchbreeding programs and is of particular value is the cucumber.

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is naturally a diploid (2n=14) outcrossingspecies, although haploid, doubled-haploid (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No.5,492,827), and triploid (see, e.g., Sarreb et al. (2002), Plant CellTissue, Organ Culture 71: 231-235) types have been developed. The twomain types of cucumber fruit grown commercially today in the UnitedStates are fresh market (slicing) type and the processing (pickling)type. Varieties and production methods are typically adapted to the enduse. Slicing cucumbers are often longer, larger and have darker andthicker skin, whereas pickling/processing cucumbers have a shorterfruit, thinner skin with interior flesh that make them more amenable topickling. Seedless varieties are generally preferable for both freshmarket and for pickling as seeds are not palatable.

Cucumber plants that set fruit parthenocarpically (without pollinationand fertilization) have more recently been available. These plantsproduce seedless fruit unless pollinated. Growth of parthenocarpicvarieties is beneficial in that setting of fruit on these cultivars doesnot produce an inhibiting effect on plant growth, unlike the case offertilized, seeded fruit. The seedless varieties are usually higheryielding and of higher quality due to the lack of seeds. However, growthof these plants requires isolation from seeded cucumbers to avoidpollination and subsequent seeded fruit.

Most of the cucumbers currently grown for processing to pickles andpickle products in the United States are seeded hybrid varieties. Hybridvarieties offer the advantages of easy combination of dominant andrecessive traits, such as disease resistance, from a set of inbredparents, as well as careful control of parentage. The production of F1hybrid cucumber seeds from a pollen parent bearing only male flowers hasbeen reported (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,822,949).

Many different cucumber cultivars have been produced, and cucumberbreeding efforts have been underway in many parts of the world (see e.g.U.S. Pat. No. 6,765,130). Some breeding objectives include varying thecolor, texture and flavor of the fruit Minimizing the occurrence ofbitterness in cucumbers is one such example. Other objectives includeoptimizing flesh thickness, solid content (% dry matter), and sugarcontent. Also, breeding programs have focused on developing plants withearlier fruit maturity; more restricted vine growth, improved diseaseresistance or tolerance, and improved adaptability to environmentalconditions.

Advances in biotechnology have also resulted in genetically engineeredcucumber plants with improved traits. For example, cucumbers resistantto CMV have been developed by expression of CMV protein coat genes (seee.g. U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,128). Transgenic plants exhibiting, forexample, other viral resistance traits or high levels of superoxidedismutase have also been reported (see e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 6,084,152).

While breeding efforts to date have provided a number of useful cucumbervarieties with beneficial traits, there remains a great need in the artfor new varieties with further improved traits. Such plants wouldbenefit farmers and consumers alike by improving crop yields and/orquality. Some breeding objectives include varying the color, texture andflavor of the fruit, and absence of seeds. Other objectives includedisease or pest resistance, optimizing flesh thickness, yield,suitability to various climatic circumstances, solid content (% drymatter), and storage properties.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In an aspect of the invention, a seed of Cucumber variety NUN 55516 CUPis provided, wherein a representative sample of said seed has beendeposited under Accession Number NCIMB 43479. The invention alsoprovides for a plurality of seeds of NUN 55516 CUP. The Cucumber seed ofNUN 55516 CUP may be provided as an essentially homogeneous populationof Cucumber seed. Therefore, seed of the invention may be defined asforming at least about 97% of the total seed, including at least about98%, 99% or more of the seed. The population of seed of NUN 55516 CUPmay be particularly defined as being essentially free from other seed.The seed population may be grown into plants to provide an essentiallyhomogeneous population of Cucumber plants according to the invention.

Also encompassed is a plant grown from a seed of Cucumber variety NUN55516 CUP and a plant part thereof. In another aspect the inventionprovides for a hybrid variety of Cucumber called NUN 55516 CUP. Theinvention also provides for a progeny of NUN 55516 CUP. Especially, aplant or a progeny retaining all or all but one, two or three of the“distinguishing characteristics” or all or all but one, two or three ofthe “morphological and physiological characteristics” of NUN 55516 CUPreferred to herein, is encompassed herein as well as methods forproducing that plant or progeny.

In one aspect, a plant or a progeny of the invention have all thephysiological and morphological characteristics of variety NUN 55516 CUPwhen grown under the same environmental conditions. In another aspectsuch a plant or such progeny have all or all but one, two or three ofthe physiological and morphological characteristics of NUN 55516 CUPwhen measured under the same environmental conditions and evaluated atsignificance levels of 1%, 5% or 10% significance (which can also beexpressed as a p-value) wherein a representative sample of seed ofvariety NUN 55516 CUP has been deposited under Accession Number NCIMB43479. In a second aspect, a plant or a progeny of the invention haveall the physiological and morphological characteristics of variety NUN55516 CUP when grown under the same environmental conditions. In anotheraspect such a plant or such progeny have all or all but one, two orthree of the physiological and morphological characteristics as listedin Table 1 and/or 2 for variety NUN 55516 CUP when measured under thesame environmental conditions and evaluated at significance levels of1%, 5% or 10% significance.

In another aspect a plant of NUN 55516 CUP or said progeny plants has 7,8, or more or all of the distinguishing characteristics: 1) Averagefruit length at edible maturity; 2) type of yellowish blossom endstripes (at edible maturity); 3) type of fruit tapering (at ediblematurity); 4) type of stem end cross section (at edible maturity); 5)type of medial cross section (at edible maturity); 6) type of blossomend cross section (at edible maturity); 7) Average fruit length at seedharvest maturity; 8) Average fruit medial diameter at edible maturity;9) Average leaf length (Mature blade of third leaf): and 10) Averagenumber of nodes from cotyledon leaves to node bearing the 1^(st)pistillate flower. NUN 55516 CUP is a pickling Cucumber and sets fruitparthenocarpically.

Also a plant part obtained from variety NUN 55516 CUP is provided,wherein said plant part is selected from the group consisting of: afruit, a harvested fruit, a part of a fruit, a leaf, a part of a leaf,pollen, an ovule, a cell, a petiole, a shoot or a part thereof, a stemor a part thereof, a root or a part thereof, a root tip, a cutting, aseed, a part of a seed, seed coat or another maternal tissue which ispart of a seed grown on said varieties, hypocotyl, cotyledon, a scion, astock, a rootstock, a pistil, an anther, and a flower or a part thereof.Fruits are particularly important plant parts. In a further embodiment,the plant part obtained from variety NUN 55516 CUP is a cell, optionallya cell in a cell or tissue culture. That cell may be grown into a plantof NUN 55516 CUP.

The invention also provides a cell culture of NUN 55516 CUP and a plantregenerated from NUN 55516 CUP, which plant has all the characteristicsof NUN 55516 CUP when grown under the same environmental conditions, aswell as methods for regenerating NUN 55516 CUP. Alternatively, aregenerated plant may have one characteristic that is different from NUN55516 CUP.

Further, a vegetatively propagated plant of variety NUN 55516 CUP isprovided having all or all but one, two or three of the morphologicaland physiological characteristics NUN 55516 CUP when grown under thesame environmental conditions.

Further, a Cucumber fruit produced on a plant grown from a seed of NUN55516 CUP is provided.

In still another aspect, a seed growing or grown on a plant of NUN 55516CUP is provided (i.e. produced after pollination of the flower of NUN55516 CUP).

Definitions

All patent and non-patent documents cited herein are incorporated byreference in their entirety

“Cucumber” refers herein to plants of the species Cucumis sativus. Themost commonly eaten part of a Cucumber is the fruit or pepo. The fruitcomprises a stem and peduncle or pedicel, receptacle, ectocarp, rind,fruit flesh, exocarp, mesocarp, external phloem, internal phloem, xylem,vascular bundle, carpel, placenta and optionally seed. The stem andpeduncle or pedicel, receptacle, ectocarp, rind, fruit flesh, exocarp,mesocarp, external phloem, internal phloem, xylem, vascular bundle,carpel, placenta and seed coat of the seed are maternal tissues, so theyare genetically identical to the plant on which they grow.

“Cultivated Cucumber” refers to plants of Cucumis sativus i.e.varieties, breeding lines or cultivars of the species C. sativus,cultivated by humans and having good agronomic characteristics;preferably such plants are not “wild plants”, i.e. plants whichgenerally have much poorer yields and poorer agronomic characteristicsthan cultivated plants and e.g. grow naturally in wild populations.“Wild plants” include for example ecotypes, PI (Plant Introduction)lines, landraces or wild accessions or wild relatives of Cucumber.

“Pickling Cucumber” refers to Cucumbers suitable for processing bypickling in a brine, vinegar, marinade or other solution. Saidprocessing includes allowing the Cucumbers to ferment for a period oftime by immersion in an acidic liquid or though lacto-fermentation.Pickled pickling Cucumbers are also known as pickles or gherkins.

The terms “Cucumber plant designated NUN 55516 CUP”, “NUN 55516 CUP”,“NUN 55516”, “NUN 55516 F1”, “55516 CUP” or “Cucumber 55516” are usedinterchangeably herein and refer to a Cucumber plant of variety NUN55516 CUP, representative seed of which having been deposited underAccession Number NCIMB 43479.

A “seed of NUN 55516 CUP” refers to a Cucumber seed which can be growninto a plant of NUN 55516 CUP wherein a representative sample of viableseed of NUN 55516 CUP has been deposited under Accession Number NCIMB43479. A seed can be in any stage of maturity, for example a mature,viable seed, or an immature, non-viable seed. A seed comprises an embryoand maternal tissues.

An “embryo of NUN 55516 CUP” refers to an “F1 hybrid embryo” as presentin a seed of NUN 55516 CUP, a representative sample of said seed of NUN55516 CUP having been deposited under Accession Number NCIMB 43479.

A “seed grown on NUN 55516 CUP” refers to a seed grown on a mature plantof NUN 55516 CUP or inside a fruit of NUN 55516 CUP. The “seed grown onNUN 55516 CUP” contains tissues and DNA of the maternal parent, NUN55516 CUP. The “seed grown on NUN 55516 CUP” contains an F2 embryo. Whensaid seed is planted, it grows into a first generation progeny plant ofNUN 55516 CUP.

A “fruit of NUN 55516 CUP” refers to a fruit containing maternal tissuesof NUN 55516 CUP as deposited under Accession Number NCIMB 43479. Thefruit of NUN 55516 CUP sets parthenocarpically; i.e. it does not containseed. The skilled person is familiar with methods for inducingparthenocarpy. Those methods comprise chemically or genetically inducingparthenocarpy. Compounds suitable for chemically inducing parthenocarpyinclude auxins, gibberellins and cytokinins. Genetic parthenocarpy canamong others be induced as in WO2016207432 or WO2016120438 (PIN4) or canbe provided by reduced or eliminated expression of PISTILATA (PI) orAPETALA3 (AP3). A fruit can be in any stage of maturity, for example amature fruit in the yellow stage, or an immature fruit in the ediblegreen stage.

“Tissue culture” or “cell culture” refers to a composition comprisingisolated cells of the same or a different type or a collection of suchcells organized into parts of a plant. Tissue culture of various tissuesof cucumber and regeneration of plants therefrom is well known andwidely published (see, e.g., Sang-Gu et al. (1988), Plant Cell, Tissueand Organ Culture 12: 67-74; Colijn-Hooymans (1994), Plant Cell, Tissueand Organ Culture 39: 211-217). Similarly, the skilled person iswell-aware how to prepare a “tissue culture” or “cell culture”.

“UPOV descriptors” are the plant variety descriptors described forcucumber in the “Guidelines for the Conduct of Tests for Distinctness,Uniformity and Stability, TG/61/7 (Geneva 2007, last revised 2016), aspublished by UPOV (International Union for the Protection of NewVarieties and Plants, available on the world wide web at upov.int) andwhich can be downloaded from the world wide web at upov.int/underedocs/tgdocs/en/tg061.pdf and is herein incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

“USDA descriptors” are the plant variety descriptors for cucumber asdescribed in the document titled “OBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION OFVARIETY—Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.)” as published by the US Departmentof Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service, Plant Variety ProtectionOffice, Beltsville, Md. 20705 and which can be downloaded from the WorldWide Web at ams usda.gov/undersites/default/files/media/93-Cucumber.pdf. “Non-USDA descriptors” areother descriptors suitable for describing cucumber.

“RHS” refers to the Royal Horticultural Society of England whichpublishes an official botanical color chart quantitatively identifyingcolors according to a defined numbering system. The chart may bepurchased from Royal Horticulture Society Enterprise Ltd RHS Garden;Wisley, Woking; Surrey GU236QB, UK, e.g., the RHS color chart: 2007 (TheRoyal Horticultural Society, charity No: 222879, PO Box 313 LondonSW1P2PE.

As used herein and except as otherwise indicated, the term “plant”includes the whole plant or any part thereof, preferably having the samegenetic makeup as the plant from which it is obtained, such as a plantorgan (e.g. harvested or non-harvested fruits), a plant cell, a plantprotoplast, a plant cell tissue culture or a tissue culture from which awhole plant can be regenerated, a plant cell that is intact in a plant,a clone, a micropropagation, plant callus, a plant cell clump, a planttransplant, a vegetative propagation, a seedling, or parts of a plant(e.g. harvested tissues or organs), such as a fruit, a harvested fruit,a part of a fruit, a leaf, a part of a leaf, pollen, an ovule, anembryo, a petiole, a shoot or a part thereof, a stem or a part thereof,a root or a part thereof, a root tip, a cutting, a seed, a part of aseed, seed coat or another maternal tissue which is part of a seed grownon a variety of the invention, hypocotyl, cotyledon, a scion, a graft, astock, a rootstock, a pistil, an anther, and a flower or parts of any ofthese and the like. Also any developmental stage is included, such asseedlings, cuttings prior or after rooting, mature plants or leaves.Alternatively, a plant part may also include a plant seed whichcomprises one or two sets of chromosomes derived from the parent plant,e.g. from NUN 55516 CUP. An F2 progeny produced from self-pollination ofNUN 55516 CUP will thus comprise two sets of chromosomes derived fromNUN 55516 CUP, while an F2 progeny derived from cross-fertilization ofNUN 55516 CUP will comprise only one set of chromosomes from NUN 55516CUP and the other set of chromosomes from the other parent.

“Harvested plant material” refers herein to plant parts (e.g. fruitsdetached from the whole plant) which have been collected for furtherstorage and/or further use.

“Reference Variety” or “check variety” refers herein to variety Marcial,a commercial variety from company Nunhems B.V., which has been plantedin a trial together with NUN 55516 CUP. USDA descriptors of NUN 55516CUP were compared to the USDA descriptors of Marcial.

“Rootstock” or “stock” refers to the plant selected for its roots, inparticular for the resistance of the roots to diseases or stress (e.g.heat, cold, salinity etc.). Normally the quality of the fruit of theplant providing the rootstock is less important.

“Scion” refers to a part of the plant that is attached to the rootstock.This plant is selected for its stems, leaves, flowers, or fruits. Thescion contains the desired genes to be duplicated in future productionby the stock/scion plant and may produce the desired Cucumber fruit.

“Stock/scion” plant refers to a Cucumber plant comprising a rootstockfrom one plant grafted to a scion from another plant.

A plant having “all the physiological and morphological characteristics”of a referred-to-plant means a plant showing the physiological andmorphological characteristics of the referred-to-plant when grown underthe same environmental conditions, preferably in the same experiment;the referred-to-plant can be a plant from which it was derived, e.g. theprogenitor plant, the parent, the recurrent parent, the plant used fortissue- or cell culture, etc. A physiological or morphologicalcharacteristic can be a numerical characteristic or a non-numericalcharacteristic. In one aspect, a plant has “all but one, two or three ofthe physiological and morphological characteristics” of areferred-to-plant, or “all the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics” of Table 1 and/or 2 or “all or all but one, two orthree of the physiological and morphological characteristics” of Table 1and/or 2.

The physiological and/or morphological characteristics mentioned aboveare commonly evaluated at significance levels of 1%, 5% or 10% if theyare numerical, or for having an identical degree (or type) if notnumerical, if measured under the same environmental conditions. Forexample, a progeny plant or a Single Locus Converted plant or a mutatedplant of NUN 55516 CUP may have one or more (or all) of the essentialphysiological and/or morphological characteristics of said varietylisted in Table 1 and/or 2, as determined at the 5% significance level(i.e. p<0.05) when grown under the same environmental conditions.

“Distinguishing characteristics” or “distinguishing morphological and/orphysiological characteristics” refers herein to the characteristicswhich distinguish (i.e. are different) between the new variety and otherCucumber varieties, such as the Reference Variety, when grown under thesame environmental conditions. The distinguishing characteristicsbetween NUN 55516 CUP and Reference Variety are described elsewhereherein and also can be seen in Table 1 and/or Table 2. When comparingNUN 55516 CUP with different varieties, the distinguishingcharacteristics will be different. In one aspect, the distinguishingcharacteristics may therefore include at least one, two, three or more(or all) of the characteristics listed in Table 1 and/or 2 and/or 3. Allnumerical distinguishing characteristics are statistically significantlydifferent at p<0.05 between NUN 55516 CUP and the other variety, e.g.Reference Variety.

NUN 55516 CUP has the following distinguishing characteristics whencompared to the Reference Variety: 1) Average fruit length at ediblematurity; 2) type of yellowish blossom end stripes (at edible maturity);3) type of fruit tapering (at edible maturity); 4) type of stem endcross section (at edible maturity); 5) type of medial cross section (atedible maturity); 6) type of blossom end cross section (at ediblematurity); 7) Average fruit length at seed harvest maturity; 8) Averagefruit medial diameter at edible maturity; 9) Average leaf length (Matureblade of third leaf): and 10) Average number of nodes from cotyledonleaves to node bearing the 1^(st) pistillate flower. This can be seen ina.m. Table 1, where the USDA characteristics of NUN 55516 CUP arecompared to the characteristics of Reference Variety, when grown underthe same environmental conditions

Thus, a Cucumber plant “comprising the distinguishing characteristics ofNUN 55516 CUP (such as a progeny plant) refers herein to a plant whichdoes not differ significantly from said variety in the distinguishingcharacteristics above. Therefore in one aspect a plant (such as aprogeny plant of NUN 55516 CUP) is provided which does not differsignificantly from NUN 55516 CUP in the distinguishing characteristicsabove.

Similarity and differences between two different plant lines orvarieties can be determined by comparing the number of morphologicaland/or physiological characteristics (e.g. the characteristics as listedin Table 1 and/or 2) that are the same (i.e. statistically notsignificantly different) or that are different (i.e. statisticallysignificantly different) between the two plant lines or varieties whengrown under the same environmental conditions. A numericalcharacteristic is considered to be “the same” when the value for anumeric characteristic is not significantly different at the 1% (p<0.01)or 5% (p<0.05) significance level, using one way Analysis of variance(ANOVA), a standard method known to the skilled person. Non-numerical or“degree” or “type” characteristic are considered “the same” when thevalues have the same “degree” or “type” when scored using USDA and/orUPOV descriptors, if the plants are grown under the same environmentalconditions.

As used herein, the term “variety”, “cultivated Cucumber” or “cultivar”means a plant grouping within a single botanical taxon of the lowestknown rank, which grouping, irrespective of whether the conditions forthe grant of a breeder's right are fully met, can be defined by theexpression of the characteristics resulting from a given genotype orcombination of genotypes, distinguished from any other plant grouping bythe expression of at least one of the said characteristics andconsidered as a unit with regard to its suitability for being propagatedunchanged.

A “plant line” is for example a breeding line which can be used todevelop one or more varieties. A breeding line is typically highlyhomozygous.

“Hybrid variety” or “F1 hybrid” refers to the seeds harvested fromcrossing two inbred (nearly homozygous) parental lines. For example, thefemale parent is pollinated with pollen of the male parent to producehybrid (F1) seeds on the female parent.

“Regeneration” refers to the development of a plant from cell culture ortissue culture or vegetative propagation.

“Vegetative propagation”, “vegetative reproduction” or “clonalpropagation” are used interchangeably herein and mean a method of takinga part of a plant and allowing that plant part to form at least roots,and also refer to the plant or plantlet obtained by that method.Optionally, the vegetative propagation is grown into a mature plant. Theskilled person is aware of what plant parts are suitable for use in themethod.

“Selfing” refers to self-pollination of a plant, i.e., the transfer ofpollen from the anther to the stigma of the same plant.

“Crossing” refers to the mating of two parent plants. The termencompasses “cross-pollination” and “selfing”.

“Cross-pollination” refers to the fertilization by the union of twogametes from different plants.

“Yield” means the total weight of all Cucumber fruits harvested perhectare of a particular line or variety. It is understood that “yield”expressed as weight of all Cucumber fruits harvested per hectare can beobtained by multiplying the number of plants per hectare times the“yield per plant”. “Marketable yield” means the total weight of allmarketable Cucumber fruits, especially fruit that is not cracked,damaged or diseased, harvested per hectare of a particular line orvariety.

As used herein, the terms “resistance” and “tolerance” are usedinterchangeably to describe plants that show no symptoms orsignificantly reduced symptoms to a specified biotic pest, pathogen,abiotic influence or environmental condition compared to a susceptibleplant. These terms are optionally also used to describe plants showingsome symptoms but that are still able to produce marketable product withan acceptable yield.

“Harvest maturity” is referred to as the stage at which a Cucumber fruitis ready for harvest or the optimal time to harvest the fruit for themarket, for processing or for consumption. In one embodiment, harvestmaturity is the stage where the pickling cucumber is edible, or readyfor processing.

The term “traditional breeding techniques” encompasses herein crossing,selfing, selection, doubled haploid production, embryo rescue,protoplast fusion, marker assisted selection, mutation breeding etc. asknown to the breeder (i.e. methods other than geneticmodification/transformation/transgenic methods), by which, for example,a genetically heritable trait can be transferred from one Cucumber lineor variety to another. It optionally includes epigenetic modifications.

“Backcrossing” is a traditional breeding technique used to introduce atrait into a plant line or variety. The plant containing the trait iscalled the donor plant and the plant into which the trait is transferredis called the recurrent parent. An initial cross is made between thedonor parent and the recurrent parent to produce a progeny plant.Progeny plants which have the trait are then crossed to the recurrentparent. After several generations of backcrossing and/or selfing therecurrent parent comprises the trait of the donor. The plant generatedin this way may be referred to as a “single trait converted plant”. Thetechnique can also be used on a parental line of a hybrid.

“Progeny” as used herein refers to a plant obtained from a plantdesignated NUN 55516 CUP. A progeny may be obtained by regeneration ofcell culture or tissue culture or parts of a plant of said variety orselfing of a plant of said variety or by producing seeds of a plant ofsaid variety. In further embodiments, progeny may also encompass plantsobtained from crossing of at least one plant of said variety withanother Cucumber plant of the same variety or another variety or(breeding) line, or with wild Cucumber plants. A progeny may comprise amutation or a transgene. A first generation progeny” or is the progenydirectly derived from, obtained from, obtainable from or derivable fromthe parent plant by, e.g., traditional breeding methods (selfing and/orcross-pollinating) or regeneration. Thus, a plant of NUN 55516 CUP isthe male parent, the female parent or both of a first generation progenyof NUN 55516 CUP. Progeny may have all the physiological andmorphological characteristics of variety NUN 55516 CUP when grown underthe same environmental conditions and/or progeny may have (be selectedfor having) one or more of the distinguishing characteristics ofcucumber of the invention. Using common breeding methods such asbackcrossing or recurrent selection, one or more specificcharacteristics may be introduced into said variety, to provide or aplant comprising all but 1, 2, or 3 or more of the morphological andphysiological characteristics of NUN 55516 CUP (as listed in Table 1and/or 2)

The terms “gene converted” or “conversion plant” or “single locusconverted plant” in this context refer to Cucumber plants which aredeveloped by backcrossing wherein essentially all of the desiredmorphological and physiological characteristics of the parent variety orline are recovered, in addition to the one or more genes transferredinto the parent via the backcrossing technique (optionally includingreverse breeding or reverse synthesis of breeding lines) or via geneticengineering or through mutation breeding. Likewise a “Single LocusConverted (Conversion) Plant” refers to plants which are developed byplant breeding techniques comprising or consisting of mutation and/or bygenetic transformation and/or by backcrossing, wherein essentially allof the desired morphological and physiological characteristics of aCucumber variety are recovered in addition to the characteristics of thesingle locus having been transferred into the variety via thebackcrossing technique. In case of a hybrid, the gene may be introducedin the male or female parental line.

“Marker” refers to a readily detectable phenotype, preferably inheritedin codominant fashion (both alleles at a locus in a diploid heterozygoteare readily detectable), with no environmental variance component, i.e.,a heritability of 1.

“Average” refers herein to the arithmetic mean.

The term “mean” refers to the arithmetic mean of several measurements.The skilled person understands that the appearance of a plant depends tosome extent on the growing conditions of said plant. Thus, the skilledperson will know typical growing conditions for Cucumbers describedherein. The mean, if not indicated otherwise within this application,refers to the arithmetic mean of measurements on at least 10 different,randomly selected plants of a variety or line.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to a plant of NUN 55516 CUP wherein arepresentative sample of seeds of said variety was deposited under theBudapest Treaty, with Accession number NCIMB 43479.

The present invention also relates to a seed of Cucumber variety,referred to as NUN 55516 CUP, wherein a representative sample of saidseed was deposited under the Budapest Treaty, with Accession numberNCIMB 43479.

In another aspect, the invention provides for a Cucumber plant part ofvariety NUN 55516 CUP, preferably a fruit, a representative sample ofseed from said variety has been deposited under the Budapest Treaty,with Accession number NCIMB 43479.

A seed of hybrid variety NUN 55516 CUP is obtainable by crossing themale parent of said variety with the female parent of said variety andharvesting the seeds produced on the female parent. The resultant seedsof said variety can be grown to produce plants of said variety. In oneembodiment a seed or a plurality of seeds of said variety are packagedinto a container of any size or type (e.g., bags, cartons, cans, etc.).The seed may be disinfected, primed and/or treated with variouscompounds, such as seed coatings or crop protection compounds. The seedproduces a plant of NUN 55516 CUP.

Also provided is a plant of Cucumber variety NUN 55516 CUP, or a fruitor other plant part thereof, produced from a seed, wherein arepresentative sample of said seeds has been deposited under theBudapest Treaty, with Accession Number NCIMB 43479.

Also a plant part obtained from variety NUN 55516 CUP is provided,wherein said plant part is selected from the group consisting of: afruit, a harvested fruit, a part of a fruit, a leaf, a part of a leaf,pollen, an ovule, a cell, a petiole, a shoot or a part thereof, a stemor a part thereof, a root or a part thereof, a root tip, a cutting, aseed, a part of a seed, seed coat or another maternal tissue which ispart of a seed grown on said varieties, hypocotyl, cotyledon, a scion, astock, a rootstock, a pistil, an anther, and a flower or a part thereof.Fruits are particularly important plant parts. Fruits may beparthenocarpic, or seedless, or contain immature and/or nonviable seeds.In a further embodiment, the plant part obtained from variety NUN 55516CUP is a cell, optionally a cell in a cell or tissue culture. That cellmay be grown into a plant of NUN 55516 CUP. A part of a variety of theinvention, i.e. NUN 55516 CUP (or of progeny NUN 55516 CUP or of a planthaving all physiological and/or morphological characteristics but one,two or three which are different from those of NUN 55516 CUP) furtherencompasses any cells, tissues, organs obtainable from the seedlings orplants in any stage of maturity.

The invention also provides for a food or feed product or a processedproduct comprising or consisting of a plant part described hereinwherein the plant part can be identified as a part of the plant of theinvention. Preferably, the plant part is a Cucumber fruit or partthereof and/or an extract from a fruit or another plant part describedherein comprising at least one cell of NUN 55516 CUP. The food or feedproduct may be fresh or processed, e.g., dried, grinded, powdered,pickled, chopped, cooked, roasted, in a sauce, in a sandwich, pasted,puréed or concentrated, juiced, pickled, canned, steamed, boiled, fried,blanched and/or frozen, etc.

Such a plant part of NUN 55516 CUP can be stored and/or processedfurther. Encompassed are therefore also food or feed products comprisingone or more of such parts, such as canned, chopped, cooked, roasted, ina sauce, in a sandwich, pasted, puréed or concentrated, juiced, frozen,dried, pickled, or powdered Cucumber fruit from NUN 55516 CUP or fromprogeny of said varieties, or from a derived variety, such as a planthaving all but one, two or three physiological and/or morphologicalcharacteristics of NUN 55516 CUP.

In a preferred embodiment, the invention provides for a Cucumber fruitof variety NUN 55516 CUP, or a part of a fruit of said varieties. Thefruit can be in any stage of maturity, for example immature or mature.In another embodiment, the invention provides for a container comprisingor consisting of a plurality of harvested Cucumber fruits or parts offruits of said variety, or fruits of progeny thereof, or fruits of aderived variety.

In another embodiment the plant, plant part or seed of NUN 55516 CUP isinside a container, For example, containers such as cans, boxes, crates,bags, cartons, Modified Atmosphere Packaging, films (e.g. biodegradablefilms), etc. comprising a plant or a part of a plant (fresh and/orprocessed) of NUN 55516 CUP or a seed of NUN 55516 CUP are also providedherein. In a preferred embodiment, the container comprises a pluralityof seeds of NUN 55516 CUP, or a plurality of plant parts of NUN 55516CUP.

The present invention further relates to a Cucumber variety, referred toas NUN 55516 CUP, which—when compared to its REFERENCE VARIETY—has thefollowing distinguishing characteristics: 1) average fruit length atedible maturity; 2) type of yellowish blossom end stripes (at ediblematurity); 3) type of fruit tapering (at edible maturity); 4) type ofstem end cross section (at edible maturity); 5) type of medial crosssection (at edible maturity); 6) type of blossom end cross section (atedible maturity); 7) average fruit length at seed harvest maturity; 8)average fruit medial diameter at edible maturity; 9) average leaf length(mature blade of third leaf); and 10) average number of nodes fromcotyledon leaves to node bearing the 1^(st) pistillate flower, where thecharacteristics are determined at the 5% significance level for plantsgrown under the same environmental conditions. Also encompassed by thepresent invention are parts of that plant.

In one embodiment a plant of NUN 55516 CUP or a progeny plant thereof,comprises all of the following morphological and/or physiologicalcharacteristics (i.e. average values of distinguishing characteristics,as indicated on the USDA Objective description of variety—Cucumber(unless indicated otherwise)): 1) Average fruit length at ediblematurity; 2) type of yellowish blossom end stripes (at edible maturity);3) type of fruit tapering (at edible maturity); 4) type of stem endcross section (at edible maturity); 5) type of medial cross section (atedible maturity); 6) type of blossom end cross section (at ediblematurity); 7) Average fruit length at seed harvest maturity; 8) Averagefruit medial diameter at edible maturity; 9) Average leaf length (Matureblade of third leaf): and 10) Average number of nodes from cotyledonleaves to node bearing the 1^(st) pistillate flower, where thecharacteristics are determined at the 5% significance level for plantsgrown under the same environmental conditions. An example of values forthe distinguishing characteristics collected in a trial run according toUDSA requirements can be found in Table 1. A part of this plant is alsoprovided.

NUN 55516 CUP may further exhibit at least one further trait selectedfrom the group consisting of a) average petiole diameter, b) averagetubercles per 2 cm² of fruit at edible maturity, c) average fruit weightat seed maturity.

The invention further provides a Cucumber plant which does not differfrom the plant of claim 1 as determined at the 1%, 2%, 3%, 4% or 5%significance level when grown under the same environmental conditions.Thus the plants are measured in the same trial. Preferably, the trial isconducted as recommended by the USDA or UPOV. The invention alsocomprises a part of said plant

The invention also provides a tissue or cell culture comprising cells ofNUN 55516 CUP. Such a tissue culture can for example be grown on platesor in liquid culture, or be frozen for long term storage. The cells ofNUN 55516 CUP used to start the culture can be selected from any plantpart suitable for vegetative reproduction, or in a preferred embodimentcan be selected from embryos, meristems, cotyledons, hypocotyl, pollen,leaves, anthers, roots, root tips, pistil, petiole, flower, fruit, seed,stem and stalks of NUN 55516 CUP. In another preferred embodiment, thetissue culture does not contain somaclonal variation or has reducedsomaclonal variation. The skilled person is familiar with methods toreduce or prevent somaclonal variation, including regular reinitiation.

In one embodiment the invention provides a Cucumber plant regeneratedfrom the tissue or cell culture of NUN 55516 CUP, wherein theregenerated plant is not significantly different from NUN 55516 CUP inall, or all but one, two or three, of the physiological andmorphological characteristics (determined at the 5% significance levelwhen grown under the same environmental conditions). Optionally, theplant has one, two or three the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics that are affected by a mutation or by transformation. Inanother embodiment, the invention provides a Cucumber plant regeneratedfrom the tissue or cell culture of NUN 55516 CUP, wherein the plant hasall of the physiological and morphological characteristics of saidvariety determined at the 5% significance level when grown under thesame environmental conditions. In these cases, similarity or differenceof a characteristic is determined by measuring the characteristics of arepresentative number of plants grown under the same environmentalconditions, determining whether type/degree characteristics are the sameor different and determining whether numerical characteristics aresignificantly different (determined at the 5% significance level).

A Cucumber according to the invention, such as NUN 55516 CUP, or itsprogeny, or a plant having all physiological and/or morphologicalcharacteristics but one, two or three which are different from those ofNUN 55516 CUP, can also be reproduced using vegetative reproductionmethods. Therefore, the invention provides for a method of producing aplant, or a part thereof, of variety NUN 55516 CUP, comprisingvegetative propagation of said variety. Vegetative propagation comprisesregenerating a whole plant from a plant part of variety NUN 55516 CUP(or from a progeny of said variety or from or a plant having allphysiological and/or morphological characteristics of said variety butone, two or three different characteristics), such as a cutting, a cellculture or a tissue culture.

The invention also concerns methods of vegetatively propagating a partof the plant of the invention NUN 55516 CUP. In certain embodiments, themethod comprises the steps of: (a) collecting tissue or cells capable ofbeing propagated from a plant of the invention; (b) cultivating saidtissue or cells to obtain proliferated shoots; and (c) rooting saidproliferated shoots, to obtain rooted plantlets. Steps (b) and (c) mayalso be reversed, i.e. first cultivating said tissue to obtain roots andthen cultivating the tissue to obtain shoots, thereby obtaining rootedplantlets. The rooted plantlets may then be further grown, to obtainplants. In one embodiment, the method further comprises step (d) growingplants from said rooted plantlets. Therefore, the method also comprisesregenerating a whole plant from said part of NUN 55516 CUP.

In a preferred embodiment, the part of the plant to be propagated is acutting, a cell culture or a tissue culture.

The invention also provides for a vegetatively propagated plant ofvariety NUN 55516 CUP (or from progeny of said variety or from or aplant having all but one, two or three physiological and/ormorphological characteristics of NUN 55516 CUP) wherein the plant hasall of the morphological and physiological characteristics of NUN 55516CUP when the characteristics are determined at the 5% significance levelfor plants grown under the same conditions. In another embodiment, thepropagated plant has all but one, two or three of the morphological andphysiological characteristics of NUN 55516 CUP when the characteristicsare determined at the 5% significance level for plants grown under thesame conditions. A part of said propagated plant or said propagatedplant with one, two or three differences is also included.

In an embodiment, the invention provides a method for producing aCucumber plant, comprising the steps of:

-   -   a. Growing a plant of claim 1 until it sets fruit    -   b. Collecting the fruit of step a)        Preferably, the fruit is collected at harvest maturity. In        another embodiment, the fruit is collected when the seed is        ripe. A plant of NUN 55516 CUP can be produced by seeding        directly in the soil (e.g., field) or by germinating the seeds        in controlled environment conditions (e.g., greenhouses) and        optionally then transplanting the seedlings into the field. For        example, the seed can be sown into prepared seed beds where they        will remain for the entire production the crop. Alternatively,        the Cucumber seed may be planted through a black plastic mulch.        The dark plastic will absorb heat from the sun, warming the soil        early. It will also help to conserve moisture during the growing        season, controls weeds and makes harvesting easier and cleaner.        Cucumber can also be grown entirely in greenhouses.

In still another aspect the invention provides a method of producing aCucumber plant, comprising crossing a plant of Cucumber NUN 55516 CUPwith a second Cucumber plant at least once, allowing seed to develop andoptionally harvesting said progeny seed. The skilled person can selectprogeny from said crossing. Optionally, the progeny is crossed twice,thrice, or four, five, six or seven times, and allowed to set seed. Inone embodiment of the invention, the first step in “crossing” comprisesplanting seeds of a first and a second parent Cucumber plant, often inproximity so that pollination will occur; for example, mediated byinsect vectors. Alternatively, pollen can be transferred manually. Wherethe plant is self-pollinated, pollination may occur without the need fordirect human intervention other than plant cultivation. Afterpollination the plant can produce seed.

In yet another aspect the invention provides a method of producing aplant, comprising selfing a plant of variety NUN 55516 CUP one or moretimes, and selecting a progeny plant from said selfing. In one aspectthe progeny plant retains all the distinguishing characteristics of NUN55516 CUP described above. In a different embodiment the progeny plantcomprises all (or all but one, two or three) of the physiological andmorphological characteristic of NUN 55516 CUP of Table 1, and/or Table2. In a further embodiment the progeny plant comprises all physiologicaland morphological characteristic of NUN 55516 CUP when grown under thesame environmental conditions.

In other aspects, the invention provides a progeny plant of variety NUN55516 CUP such as a progeny plant obtained by further breeding thatvariety. Further breeding with the variety of the invention includesselfing that variety one or more times and/or cross-pollinating thatvariety with another Cucumber plant or variety one or more times. Inparticular, the invention provides for a progeny plant that retains allthe essential morphological and physiological characteristics of NUN55516 CUP or, in another embodiment, a progeny plant that retains all,or all but one, two or three, of the morphological and physiologicalcharacteristics of NUN 55516 CUP, optionally all or all but one, two orthree of the characteristics as listed in Table 1 and/or 2, when grownunder the same environmental conditions, determined at the 5%significance level for numerical characteristics. In a preferredembodiment, the progeny is a first generation progeny, i.e. the ovule orthe pollen (or both) used in the crossing is an ovule or pollen ofvariety NUN 55516 CUP, i.e. the pollen comes from an anther of NUN 55516CUP and the ovule comes from an ovary of NUN 55516 CUP. In anotheraspect, the invention provides for a vegetative reproduction of thevariety and a plant having all, or all but 1, 2, or 3 of thephysiological and morphological characteristics of NUN 55516 CUP (e.g.as listed in Table 1 and/or 2).

The morphological and/or physiological differences between two differentindividual plants of the invention (e.g. between NUN 55516 CUP and aprogeny of NUN 55516 CUP) or between a plant of NUN 55516 CUP or progenyof said variety, or a plant having all, or all but 1, 2, or 3, of thephysiological and morphological characteristics of NUN 55516 CUP (orall, or all but 1, 2, or 3 of the characteristics as listed in Table 1and/or 2) and another known variety can easily be established by growingsaid variety next to each other or next to the other variety (in thesame field, under the same environmental conditions), preferably inseveral locations which are suitable for said Cucumber cultivation, andmeasuring morphological and/or physiological characteristics of a numberof plants (e.g., to calculate an average value and to determine thevariation range/uniformity within the variety). For example, trials canbe carried out in Acampo Calif., USA (N 38 degrees 07′261″/W 121 degrees18′ 807″, USA, whereby various characteristics, for example maturity,days from seeding to harvest, plant habit, plant attitude, leaf shape,leaf color, blistering, numbers of flowers per leaf axil, number ofcalyx lobes, number of petals, fruit group, immature fruit color, maturefruit color, pungency, flavor, fruit glossiness, fruit size, fruitshape, average number of fruits per plant, seed size, seed weight,anthocyanin level, disease resistance, insect resistance, can bemeasured and directly compared for species of Cucumber. Thus, theinvention comprises Cucumber plant having one, two or threephysiological and/or morphological characteristics which are differentfrom those of the plant of claim 1 and which otherwise has all thephysiological and morphological characteristics of the plant of claim 1,when determined at the 5% significance level for plants grown under thesame environmental conditions. In a preferred embodiment, the differentcharacteristic is affected by a mutation or by transformation.

The morphological and physiological characteristics (and thedistinguishing characteristics) of NUN 55516 CUP are provided in theExamples, in Table 1 and/or 2. Encompassed herein is also a plantobtainable from NUN 55516 CUP (e.g. by selfing and/or crossing and/orbackcrossing with said variety and/or progeny of said variety)comprising all or all but one, two or three of the physiological andmorphological characteristics of NUN 55516 CUP listed in Table 1 and/or2 as determined at the 5% significance level for numericalcharacteristics or identical for non-numerical characteristics whengrown under the same environmental conditions and/or comprising one ormore (or all; or all except one, two or three) characteristics whengrown under the same environmental conditions.

Also at-harvest and/or post-harvest characteristics of fruits can becompared, such as cold storage holding quality, post-harvest fleshfirmness, and Brix can be measured using known methods. (Fruit) Fleshfirmness can for example be measured using a penetrometer, e.g. byinserting a probe into the fruit flesh and determining the insertionforce, or by other methods. Fruit flesh firmness can for example bemeasured using a “FT 327 Penetrometer”, available from QA Supplies LLC,1185 Pineridge Road, Norfolk, Va. 23502.

The morphological and/or physiological characteristics may vary somewhatwith variation in the environment (such as temperature, light intensity,day length, humidity, soil, fertilizer use), which is why a comparisonunder the same environmental conditions is preferred. Colors can best bemeasured against The Munsell Book of Color (Munsell Color MacbethDivision of Kollmorgan Instruments Corporation) or using the RoyalHorticultural Society Chart (World Wide Web atrhs.org.uk/Plants/RHS-Publications/RHS-colour-charts).

In a preferred embodiment, the invention provides for a Cucumber fruitof variety NUN 55516 CUP, or a part of a fruit of said varieties. Inanother embodiment, the invention provides for a container comprising orconsisting of a plurality of harvested Cucumber fruits or parts offruits of said variety, or fruits of progeny thereof, or fruits of aderived variety.

In yet a further embodiment, the invention provides for a method ofproducing a new Cucumber plant. The method comprises crossing a plant ofthe invention i.e. NUN 55516 CUP, or a plant comprising all but 1, 2, or3 of the morphological and physiological characteristics of said variety(as listed in Table 1 and/or 2), or a progeny plant thereof, either asmale or as female parent, with a second Cucumber plant (or a wildrelative of Cucumber) one or more times, and/or selfing a Cucumber plantaccording to the invention i.e. NUN 55516 CUP, or a progeny plantthereof, one or more times, and selecting progeny from said crossingand/or selfing. The second Cucumber plant may for example be a line orvariety of the species C. sativus L., Cucumis hystrix, Cucumis ritchiei(syn. Dicaelospermum ritchiei) or Cucumis maderaspatana (syn. Mukiamaderaspatana).

The invention provides for methods of producing plants which retain allthe morphological and physiological characteristics of a plant of theinvention i.e. NUN 55516 CUP. The invention provides also for methods ofproducing a plant comprising all but 1, 2, or 3 or more of themorphological and physiological characteristics of NUN 55516 CUP (e.g.as listed in Table 1 and/or 2), but which are still genetically closelyrelated to said variety. The relatedness can, for example be determinedby fingerprinting techniques (e.g., making use of isozyme markers and/ormolecular markers such as Single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers,amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers, microsatellites,minisatellites, Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers,restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) markers and others). Aplant is “closely related” to NUN 55516 CUP if its DNA fingerprint is atleast 80%, 90%, 95% or 98% identical to the fingerprint of NUN 55516CUP. In a preferred embodiment AFLP markers are used for DNAfingerprinting (Vos et al. 1995, Nucleic Acid Research 23: 4407-4414). Aclosely related plant may have a Jaccard's Similarity index of at leastabout 0.8, preferably at least about 0.9, 0.95, 0.98 or more(Parvathaneni et al., J. Crop Sci. Biotech. 2011 (March) 14 (1): 39˜43).

The invention also provides a plant and a variety obtained or selectedby applying these methods on NUN 55516 CUP. Such a plant may be producedby crossing and/or selfing, or alternatively, a plant may simply beidentified and selected amongst plants of said variety, or progeny ofsaid variety, e.g. by identifying a variant within NUN 55516 CUP orwithin progeny of said variety (e.g. produced by selfing) which variantdiffers from NUN 55516 CUP in one, two or three of the morphologicaland/or physiological characteristics (e.g. in one, two or threedistinguishing characteristics), e.g. those listed in Table 1 and/or 2or others. In one embodiment the invention provides a Cucumber planthaving a Jaccard's Similarity index with NUN 55516 CUP of at least 0.8,e.g. at least 0.85, 0.9, 0.95, 0.98 or even at least 0.99.

WO2013182646, which is incorporated by reference, relates to anon-destructive method for analyzing maternal DNA of a seed. In thismethod the DNA is dislodged from the seed coat surface and can be usedto collect information on the genome of the maternal parent of the seed.This method for analyzing maternal DNA of a seed comprises the steps ofcontacting a seed with a fluid to dislodge DNA from the seed coatsurface, and analyzing the DNA thus dislodged from the seed coat surfaceusing methods known in the art. The skilled person is thus able todetermine whether a seed has grown on a plant of a plant of theinvention i.e. NUN 55516 CUP is a progeny of said variety, because theseed coat of the seed is a maternal tissue genetically identical to NUN55516 CUP. In one embodiment, the present invention relates to a seedcoat comprising maternal tissue of NUN 55516 CUP. In another embodimentthe invention relates to a Cucumber seed comprising a maternal tissue ofNUN 55516 CUP.

By crossing and/or selfing also (one or more) single traits may beintroduced into the variety of the invention i.e. NUN 55516 CUP (e.g.,using backcrossing breeding schemes), while retaining the remainingmorphological and physiological characteristics of said variety and/orwhile retaining one or more or all distinguishing characteristics. Asingle trait converted plant may thereby be produced. For example,disease resistance genes may be introduced, genes responsible for one ormore quality traits, yield, etc. Both single genes (e.g. dominant orrecessive) and one or more QTLs (quantitative trait loci) may betransferred into NUN 55516 CUP by breeding with said variety.

Alternatively, a single trait converted plant or single locus convertedplant of NUN 55516 CUP may be produced by the following steps

-   -   a. obtaining a cell or tissue culture of cells of NUN 55516 CUP;    -   b. genetically transforming or mutating said cells;    -   c. growing the cells into a plant; and    -   d. optionally selecting a plant that contains the desired single        locus conversion

-   The skilled person is familiar with various techniques for    genetically transforming a single locus in a plant cell, or mutating    said cells.

Any pest or disease resistance genes may be introduced into a plantaccording to the invention, i.e. NUN 55516 CUP, progeny of said varietyor into a plant comprising all but 1, 2, or 3 or more of themorphological and physiological characteristics of NUN 55516 CUP (e.g.as listed in Table 1). Resistance to one or more of the followingdiseases or pests is preferably introduced into plants of the invention:Angular Leaf Spot (Pseudomonas lachrymans), Anthracnose (Race 1),Colletotrichum lagenaria, Anthracnose (Race 2), Bacterial Wilt (Erwiniatracheiphilus), Cucumber Scab (Gummosis) (Cladosporium cucumerinum),Downy Mildew, Powdery Mildew (Erysiphe chicoracearum), Alternaria LeafBlight (Alternaria cucumerina), Target Spot (Corynespora cassiicola),Cucumber Yellow Mottle Mosaic Virus (Cucumis Virus 1), Cucumber GreenMottle Mosaic Virus (Cucumis Virus 2), Cucumber Aucuba Mosaic Virus(Cucumis Virus 2A), Muskmelon Mosaic Virus, Watermelon Mosaic Virus,Papaya Ring Spot Virus, Zucchini Mosaic Virus, Cucumber Rust, Root Rot,Crown Blight, Verticillum Wilt, Sulphur Burn, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp.cucumberis (Fom) race 0, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cucumberis (Fom) race1, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cucumberis (Fom) race 2, Fusarium Wilt R2,Root Knot (Nematode), Anthracnose, and Squash Mosaic.

Thus, invention also provides a method for developing a Cucumber plantin a Cucumber breeding program, using a Cucumber plant of the invention,or its parts as a source of plant breeding material. Suitable plantbreeding techniques are recurrent selection, backcrossing, pedigreebreeding, mass selection, mutation breeding and/or genetic markerenhanced selection. For example, in one aspect, the method comprisescrossing NUN 55516 CUP or progeny of said variety, or a plant comprisingall but 1, 2, or 3 or more of the morphological and physiologicalcharacteristics of NUN 55516 CUP (e.g. as listed in Table 1 and/or 2),with a different Cucumber plant, and wherein one or more offspring ofthe crossing are subject to one or more plant breeding techniquesselected from the group consisting of recurrent selection, backcrossing,pedigree breeding, mass selection, mutation breeding and genetic markerenhanced selection (see e.g. see e.g. Martin et al. 2008, AustralianJournal of Crop Science 1(2): 43-46). For breeding methods in generalsee Principles of Plant Genetics and Breeding, 2007, George Acquaah,Blackwell Publishing, ISBN-13: 978-1-4051-3646-4.

The invention also provides a Cucumber plant comprising at least a firstset of the chromosomes of Cucumber variety NUN 55516 CUP, a sample ofseed of said variety having been deposited under Accession Number NCIMB43479; optionally further comprising a single locus conversion or amutation, wherein said plant has essentially all of the morphologicaland physiological characteristics of the plant comprising at least afirst set of the chromosomes of said variety. In another embodiment,this single locus conversion confers a trait selected from the groupconsisting of yield, storage properties, color, male sterility,herbicide tolerance, insect resistance, pest resistance, diseaseresistance, environmental stress tolerance, modified carbohydratemetabolism and modified protein metabolism.

In one embodiment, a plant according to the invention, i.e. NUN 55516CUP may also be mutated (by e.g. irradiation, chemical mutagenesis, heattreatment, etc.) and mutated seeds or plants may be selected in order tochange one or more characteristics of said variety. Methods such asTILLING may be applied to Cucumber populations in order to identifymutants. Similarly, NUN 55516 CUP may be transformed and regenerated,whereby one or more chimeric genes are introduced into the variety orinto a plant comprising all but 1, 2, 3, or more of the morphologicaland physiological characteristics (e.g. as listed in Table 1 and/or 2).Transformation can be carried out using standard methods, such asAgrobacterium tumefaciens mediated transformation or biolistics,followed by selection of the transformed cells and regeneration intoplants. A desired trait (e.g. genes conferring pest or diseaseresistance, herbicide, fungicide or insecticide tolerance, etc.) can beintroduced into NUN 55516 CUP, or progeny of said variety, bytransforming said variety or progeny of said variety with a transgenethat confers the desired trait, wherein the transformed plant retainsall or all but one, two or three of the phenotypic and/or morphologicaland/or physiological characteristics of NUN 55516 CUP or the progeny ofsaid variety and contains the desired trait.

The invention also provides a plant or a cell of a plant comprising adesired trait produced by mutating a plant of variety NUN 55516 CUP or acell thereof and selecting a plant the desired trait, wherein themutated plant retains all or all but one of the phenotypic andmorphological characteristics of said variety, optionally as describedfor each variety in Table 1 and/or 2, and contains the desired trait andwherein a representative sample of seed of variety NUN 55516 CUP hasbeen deposited under Accession Number NCIMB 43479. In a furtherembodiment, the desired trait is selected from the group consisting ofyield, compact Cucumber, fruit quality, male sterility, herbicidetolerance, insect resistance, pest resistance, disease resistance,Powdery mildew resistance without necrosis, environmental stresstolerance, modified carbohydrate metabolism, modified protein metabolismand ripening.

The invention also provides a plant having one, two or threephysiological and/or morphological characteristics which are differentfrom those of NUN 55516 CUP and which otherwise has all thephysiological and morphological characteristics of said variety, whereina representative sample of seed of variety NUN 55516 CUP has beendeposited under Accession Number NCIMB 43479. In particular variantswhich differ from NUN 55516 CUP in none, one, two or three of thecharacteristics mentioned in Table 1 and/or 2 are encompassed.

A part of a variety of the invention, i.e. NUN 55516 CUP (or of progenyof said varieties or of a plant having all physiological and/ormorphological characteristics but one, two or three which are differentfrom those of said variety) encompasses any cells, tissues, organsobtainable from the seedlings or plants, such as but not limited to: aCucumber fruit or a part thereof, a cutting, hypocotyl, cotyledon, seedcoat, pollen and the like. Such parts can be stored and/or processedfurther. Encompassed are therefore also food or feed products comprisinga part of NUN 55516 CUP or a part of progeny of said varieties, or apart of a plant having all but one, two or three physiological and/ormorphological characteristics of NUN 55516 CUP, comprising one or moreof such parts, optionally processed (such as canned, chopped, cooked,roasted, in a sauce, in a sandwich, pasted, puréed or concentrated,juiced, frozen, dried, pickled, or powdered).

In one aspect a haploid plant and/or a doubled haploid plant of NUN55516 CUP, or of a plant having all but one, two or three physiologicaland/or morphological characteristics of NUN 55516 CUP, or progeny of anyof these, is encompassed herein. Haploid and doubled haploid (DH) plantscan, for example, be produced by cell or tissue culture and chromosomedoubling agents and regeneration into a whole plant. For DH productionchromosome doubling may be induced using known methods, such ascolchicine treatment or the like (Nikolova and Niemirowicz-Szczytt(1996)).

In yet another aspect haploid plants and/or doubled haploid plantsderived from NUN 55516 CUP that, when combined, make a set of parents ofNUN 55516 CUP are encompassed herein. Thus the haploid plant and/or thedoubled haploid plant of NUN 55516 CUP can be used in a method forgenerating parental lines of NUN 55516 CUP.

Using methods known in the art like “reverse synthesis of breedinglines” or “reverse breeding”, it is possible to produce parental linesfor a hybrid plant such as NUN 55516 CUP; where normally the hybrid isproduced from the parental lines. Thus, this method introduces a toolthat was not available in traditional breeding: a skilled person cantake any individual heterozygous plant (called a “phenotypicallysuperior plant” in Example 2 of WO2014076249; NUN 55516 CUP is such aplant) and generate a combination of parental lines (reverse breedingparental lines) that, when crossed, produce the variety NUN 55516 CUP.It is not necessary that the reverse breeding parental lines areidentical to the original parental lines. Such new breeding methods arebased on the segregation of individual alleles in the spores produced bya desired plant and/or in the progeny derived from the self-pollinationof that desired plant, and on the subsequent identification of suitableprogeny plants in one generation, or in a limited number of inbredcycles. Such a method is known from WO2014076249 or from NatureProtocols Volume: 9, Pages: 761-772 (2014) DOI:doi:10.1038/nprot.2014.049, which are enclosed by reference. Such methodfor producing parental lines for a hybrid organism, comprises the stepsof: a) defining a set of genetic markers that are present in aheterozygous form (H) in a partially heterozygous starting organism; b)producing doubled haploid lines from spores of the starting organism: c)genetically characterizing the doubled haploid lines thus obtained forthe said set of genetic markers to determine whether they are present ina first homozygous form (A) or in a second homozygous form (B); d)selecting at least one pair of doubled haploid lines that havecomplementary alleles for at least a subset of the genetic markers,wherein each member of the pair is suitable as a parental line for ahybrid organism.

Thus in one aspect, the invention relates to a method of producing acombination of parental lines of a plant of the invention (NUN 55516CUP) comprising the step of making doubled haploid cells from haploidcells from said plant or a seed of that plant; and optionally crossingthese parental lines to produce and collect seeds. In another aspect,the invention relates to a combination of parental lines produced bythis method. In still another aspect said combination of parental linescan be used to produce a seed or plant of NUN 55516 CUP when theseparental lines are crossed. In still another aspect, the inventionrelates to a combination of parental lines from which a seed or planthaving all physiological and/or morphological characteristics of NUN55516 CUP (when the characteristics are determined at the 5%significance level for plants grown under the same conditions).

In another aspect, the invention comprises a method for making doubledhaploid cells from haploid cells of NUN 55516 CUP according to variousmethods known to the skilled person. A suitable method is colchicinetreatment (Nikolova and Niemirowicz-Szczytt (1996))

In another alternative aspect, the invention provides a method ofintroducing a single locus conversion or single trait conversion or adesired trait into NUN 55516 CUP comprising:

-   -   a. obtain a combination of a parental lines of NUN 55516 CUP,        optionally through reverse synthesis of breeding lines,    -   b. introduce a single locus conversion in at least one of the        parents of step a;    -   c. crossing the converted parent with the other parent of step a        to obtain seed of NUN 55516 CUP        A combination of a male and a female parental line of NUN 55516        CUP can be generated by methods described herein, for example        through reverse synthesis of breeding lines.

In an embodiment of the invention, Step b) of the above method—introducea single locus conversion in at least one of the parents of step a—maybe done through the following method:

-   -   i. obtaining a cell or tissue culture of cells of the parental        line of NUN 55516 CUP;    -   ii. genetically transforming or mutating said cells;    -   iii. growing the cells into a plant; and    -   iv. optionally selecting plants that contain the single locus        conversion, the single trait conversion or the desired trait.

In another embodiment of the invention, Step b) of the abovemethod—introduce a single locus conversion in at least one of theparents of step a—may also be done through the following method:

-   -   i. crossing the parental line of NUN 55516 CUP with a second        Cucumber plant comprising the single locus conversion, the        single trait conversion or the desired trait;    -   ii. selecting F1 progeny plants that contain the single locus        conversion, the single trait conversion or the desired trait;    -   iii. crossing said selected progeny plants of step ii with the        parental line of step i, to produce a backcross progeny plant;    -   iv. selecting backcross progeny plants comprising the single        locus conversion, the single trait conversion or the desired        trait and otherwise all or all but one, two or three of the        morphological and physiological characteristics the parental        line of step i to produce selected backcross progeny plants; and    -   v. optionally repeating steps iii and iv one or more times in        succession to produce selected second, third or fourth or higher        backcross progeny plants comprising the single locus conversion,        the single trait conversion or the desired trait and otherwise        all or all but one, two or three of the morphological and        physiological characteristics the parental line of step i to        produce selected backcross progeny plants, when grown in the        same environmental conditions.        The invention further relates to plants obtained by this method.

The above method is provided, wherein the single locus conversionconcerns a trait, wherein the trait is yield or pest resistance ordisease resistance. In one embodiment the trait is disease resistanceand the resistance is conferred to Angular Leaf Spot (Pseudomonaslachrymans), Anthracnose (Race 1), Colletotrichum lagenaria, Anthracnose(Race 2), Bacterial Wilt (Erwinia tracheiphilus), Cucumber Scab(Gummosis) (Cladosporium cucumerinum), Downy Mildew, Powdery Mildew(Erysiphe chicoracearum), Alternaria Leaf Blight (Alternariacucumerina), Target Spot (Corynespora cassiicola), Cucumber YellowMottle Mosaic Virus (Cucumis Virus 1), Cucumber Green Mottle MosaicVirus (Cucumis Virus 2), Cucumber Aucuba Mosaic Virus (Cucumis Virus2A), Muskmelon Mosaic Virus, Watermelon Mosaic Virus, Papaya Ring SpotVirus, Zucchini Mosaic Virus, Cucumber Rust, Root Rot, Crown Blight,Verticillum Wilt, Sulphur Burn, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cucumberis(Fom) race 0, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cucumberis (Fom) race 1,Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cucumberis (Fom) race 2, Fusarium Wilt R2,Root Knot (Nematode), Anthracnose, and Squash Mosaic or Powdery mildewresistance without necrosis.

Thus, the invention also provides a combination of parental lines which,when crossed, produce a seed or plant having all physiological and/ormorphological characteristics of NUN 55516 CUP but one, two or threewhich are different (when grown under the same environmentalconditions), as well as a seed or plant having all physiological and/ormorphological characteristics of NUN 55516 CUP but one, two or threewhich are different (when the characteristics are determined at the 5%significance level for plants grown under the same conditions).

Also provided is a plant part obtainable from variety NUN 55516 CUP orfrom progeny of said variety or from a plant having all but one, two orthree physiological and/or morphological characteristics which aredifferent from those of NUN 55516 CUP, or from a vegetatively propagatedplant of NUN 55516 CUP (or from its progeny or from a plant having allor all but one, two or three physiological and/or morphologicalcharacteristics which are different from those of NUN 55516 CUP), beingselected from the group consisting of a fruit, a harvested fruit, a partof a fruit, a leaf, a part of a leaf, pollen, an ovule, a cell, apetiole, a shoot or a part thereof, a stem or a part thereof, a root ora part thereof, a root tip, a cutting, a seed, a part of a seed,seed-coat or another maternal tissue which is part of a seed grown onNUN 55516 CUP, or hypocotyl, cotyledon, a scion, a stock, a rootstock, apistil, an anther, and a flower or a part thereof.

In still yet another aspect, the invention provides a method ofdetermining the genotype of a plant of the invention comprising the stepof detecting in the genome (e.g., a sample of nucleic acids) of theplant at least a first polymorphism or an allele. The skilled person isfamiliar with many suitable methods of genotyping, detecting apolymorphism or detecting an allele including restriction fragmentlength polymorphism identification (RFLP) of genomic DNA, randomamplified polymorphic detection (RAPD) of genomic DNA, amplifiedfragment length polymorphism detection (AFLP), polymerase chain reaction(PCR), DNA sequencing, allele specific oligonucleotide (ASO) probes, andhybridization to DNA microarrays or beads. Alternatively, the entiregenome could be sequenced. The method may, in certain embodiments,comprise detecting a plurality of polymorphisms in the genome of theplant, for example by obtaining a sample of nucleic acid from a plantand detecting in said nucleic acids a plurality of polymorphisms. Themethod may further comprise storing the results of the step of detectingthe plurality of polymorphisms on a computer readable medium

The invention also provides for a food or feed product comprising orconsisting of a plant part described herein wherein the plant part canbe identified as a part of the plant of the invention. Preferably, theplant part is a Cucumber fruit or part thereof and/or an extract from afruit or another plant part described herein. The food or feed productmay be fresh or processed, e.g., dried, grinded, powdered, pickled,chopped, cooked, roasted, in a sauce, in a sandwich, pasted, puréed orconcentrated, juiced, pickled, canned, steamed, boiled, fried, blanchedand/or frozen, etc.

Marketable Cucumber fruits are generally sorted by size and qualityafter harvest. Alternatively the Cucumber fruits can be sorted byexpected shelf life, pH or Brix.

Cucumbers may also be grown for use as rootstocks (stocks) or scions(cions). Typically, different types of Cucumbers are grafted to enhancedisease resistance, which is usually conferred by the rootstock, whileretaining the horticultural qualities usually conferred by the scion. Itis not uncommon for grafting to occur between cultivated Cucumbervarieties and related Cucumber species. Methods of grafting andvegetative propagation are well-known in the art.

So in one aspect the invention relates to a plant comprising a rootstockor scion of NUN 55516 CUP.

All documents (e.g., patent publications) are herein incorporated byreference in their entirety.

CITED REFERENCES

-   Acquaah, Principles of Plant Genetics and Breeding, 2007, Blackwell    Publishing, ISBN-13: 978-1-4051-3646-4-   Colijn-Hooymans (1994), Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture 39:    211-217-   Martin et al. 2008, Australian Journal of Crop Science 1(2): 43-46-   Nikolova V, Niemirowicz-Szczytt K (1996) Acta Soc Bot Pol 65:311-317-   Parvathaneni et al., J. Crop Sci. Biotech. 2011 (March) 14 (1):    39˜43.-   Pisanu et al. ISHS 2004, Acta Hort. 660-   Sang-Gu et al. (1988), Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture 12:    67-74-   Sarreb et al. (2002), Plant Cell Tissue, Organ Culture 71: 231-235-   Vos et al. 1995, Nucleic Acid Research 23: 4407-4414-   Wijnker et al., Nature Protocols Volume: 9, Pages: 761-772 (2014)    DOI: 10.1038/nprot.2014.049-   U.S. Pat. No. 4,822,949-   U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,128-   U.S. Pat. No. 5,492,827-   U.S. Pat. No. 6,084,152-   U.S. Pat. No. 6,765,130-   WO2013182646-   WO2014076249-   WO2016207432-   WO2016120438-   http://www.ams usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELDEV3002687-   http://www.ams usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELDEV3002687-   http://www.upov.int/en/publications/tg-rom/tg061/tg_61_7.pdf

Examples

Development of NUN 55516 CUP

The hybrid NUN 55516 CUP was developed from a male and femaleproprietary inbred line of Nunhems. The female and male parents werecrossed to produce hybrid (F1) seeds of NUN 55516 CUP. The seeds of NUN55516 CUP can be grown to produce hybrid plants and parts thereof (e.g.Cucumber fruit). The hybrid NUN 55516 CUP can be propagated by seeds orvegetative.

The hybrid variety is uniform and genetically stable. This has beenestablished through evaluation of horticultural characteristics. Severalhybrid seed production events resulted in no observable deviation ingenetic stability. Coupled with the confirmation of genetic stability ofthe female and male parents the Applicant has concluded that NUN 55516CUP is uniform and stable.

DEPOSIT INFORMATION

A total of 2500 seeds of the hybrid variety NUN 55516 CUP have beendeposited according to the Budapest Treaty by Nunhems B.V. on May 3,2019, at the NCIMB Ltd., Ferguson Building, Craibstone Estate,Bucksburn, Aberdeen AB21 9YA, United Kingdom (NCIMB). The deposit hasbeen assigned NCIMB number 43479. A deposit of NUN 55516 CUP and of themale and female parent line is also maintained at Nunhems B.V.

Access to the deposits will be available during the pendency of thisapplication to persons determined by the Director of the U.S. PatentOffice to be entitled thereto upon request. Subject to 37 C.F.R. §1.808(b), all restrictions imposed by the depositor on the availabilityto the public of the deposited material will be irrevocably removed uponthe granting of the patent. The deposit will be maintained for a periodof 30 years, or 5 years after the most recent request, or for theenforceable life of the patent whichever is longer, and will be replacedif it ever becomes nonviable during that period. Applicant does notwaive any rights granted under this patent on this application or underthe Plant Variety Protection Act (7 USC 2321 et seq.).

The most similar variety to NUN 55516 CUP is referred to as ReferenceVariety, a variety from Nunhems B.V. with the commercial name Marcial.In Table 1 a comparison between NUN 55516 CUP and the Reference Varietywill be shown based on a trial in the USA during the trial season 2018.Trial location Acampo, Calif., planting date: 28 Jun. 2017.

A trial of 40 plants of each variety, from which at least 15 plants orplant parts were randomly selected, was to measure characteristics. Fornumerical characteristics averages will be calculated. For non-numericalcharacteristics the type/degree will be determined. In Table 1 the USDAdescriptors of NUN 55516 CUP (this application) and the ReferenceVariety (commercial variety) are listed, which were measured in thetrial.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a plant having the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of NUN 55516 CUP as presented in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Objective description of varieties NUN 55516 CUP and ReferenceVariety Application Reference Variety Variety USDA descriptor NUN 55516CUP Marcial 1. TYPE Predominate Usage (1 = slicing; 2 = pickling) 2 2Predominate Culture (1 = outdoor; 2 = indoor) 1 1 Area of bestadaptation (USA) (1 = north; 2 = south; 3 = most 3 3 areas) 2. MATURITYDays From Seeding To Market n.r. n.r. 3. PLANT Habit (1 = bush; 2 =semi-bush; 3 = vine) 3 3 Growth (1 = determinate; 2 = indeterminate) 3 3Sex (1 = Andromonoecious, 2 = Monoecious, 3 = Primarily n.r. n.r.Gynoecious, 4 = 100% Gynoecious Flower color (1 = yellow; 2 = orange; 3= green; 4 = other); 1 (RHS Yellow 1 (RHS Yellow (RHS color chart value)9A) 14B) 4. MAIN STEM Length in cm 97.3 95.6 Number of nodes fromcotyledon leaves to node bearing 2.6 3.5 the first pistillate flowerIntermode length in cm (2^(nd) internode) 3.4 2.85 Stem form (1 =groved, ridged; 2 = smooth, round) 1 1 5. LEAF (Mature blade of 3^(rd)leaf) Length in mm 96.1 102.5 Width in mm 140.8 133.8 Petiole length incm 151.4 141.1 6. FRUIT AT EDIBLE MATURITY Length in cm 13.4 11.0Diameter at medial in cm 4.1 4.5 Weight in g 168.1 163.8 Skin color (1 =not mottled; 2 = mottled or speckled with 1 1 yellow) Yellowishblossomed end stripes 2 3 (1 = absent; 2 = extend less than 1/3 of fruitlength; 3 = extend more than 1/3 of fruit length) Predominant color atstem end (1 = white; 2 = light green; 4 (RHS Green 4 (RHS Green 3 =medium green; 4 = dark green); (RHS color chart value) 137A) 139A)Predominant color at blossom end (1 = white; 2 = light 2 (RHS Yellow 2(RHS Yellow green; 3 = medium green; 4 = dark green); (RHS color chartGreen 144C) Green 145A) value) Fruit neck shape (1 = not necked; 2 =necked) 1 1 Fruit tapering (1 = both ends tapered; 4 = ends blunt or 4 2rounded) Stem end cross section (1 = circular; 2 = triangular; 1 2 3 =square) Medial cross section (1 = circular; 2 = triangular; 3 = square)2 3 Blossom end cross section (1 = circular; 2 = triangular; 3 2 3 =square) Skin Thickness (1 = thick; 2 = thin) n.r. n.r. Skin Ribs (1 =not ribbed; 2 = ribbed) 1 1 Skin toughness (1 = tough; 2 = tender) 1 1Skin luster (1 = dull; 2 = glossy) 1 1 Spine color (1 = white; 2 =black) 1 1 Spine quality (1 = coarse; 2 = fine) 1 1 Spine density (1 =few; 2 = many) 1 1 Tubercles (warts) (1 = few, obscure; 2 = many,obscure; 1 1 3 = few, prominent; 4 = many, prominent) 7. FRUIT AT MATURESTAGE (seed harvest maturity) Fruit length in cm 16.9 13.1 Fruitdiameter at medial in cm 6.23 5.62 Color (1 = white; 2 = cream; 3 =yellow; 4 = orange; 5 = 3 (Yellow 11A) 2 (Yellow 12D) brown; 6 = red)(RHS color chart value) Color pattern (1 = not striped; 2 = striped) 1 1Surface (1 = smooth; 2 = rough) 1 1 Netting (1 = slight or none; 2 =heavy) 1 1 Fruit set (1 = parthenocarpically; 2 = normally with seeds) 11

TABLE 2 Reference Application Variety Variety Non-USDA descriptor NUN55516 CUP Marcial Petiole diameter in mm 4.28 5.03 Tubercles per 2 cm²5.0 2.6 Fruit weight at seed harvest maturity 515 g 278 g

Table 1 and 2 contain typical values. Values may vary due toenvironment. Other values that are substantially equivalent are alsowithin the scope of the invention. N.A.=not applicable; n.r.=notrecorded.

What is claimed is:
 1. A plant, plant part or seed of cucumber varietyNUN 55516 CUP, wherein a representative sample of seed of said cucumbervariety is deposited under Accession Number NCIMB
 43479. 2. The plantpart of claim 1, wherein the plant part is a leaf, pollen, an ovule, aparthenocarpic fruit, a scion, a root, a rootstock, cutting, flower, ora cell.
 3. A seed that produces the plant of claim
 1. 4. A cucumberplant or a part thereof having all of the physiological andmorphological characteristics of the plant of claim
 1. 5. A cucumberplant or a part thereof which does not differ from the plant of varietyNUN 55516 CUP, when the characteristics are determined at the 1%significance level when grown under the same environmental conditions,and wherein a representative sample of seed of said cucumber variety isdeposited under Accession Number NCIMB
 43479. 6. A tissue or cellculture comprising regenerable cells of the plant of claim 1, said cellsbeing derived from said cucumber variety NUN 55516 CUP, and suitable forregeneration into a plant having all of the physiological andmorphological characteristics of cucumber variety NUN 55516 CUP.
 7. Thetissue or cell culture according to claim 6, comprising cells orprotoplasts derived from a plant part of cucumber variety NUN 55516 CUP,wherein the plant part is a meristem, a cotyledon, a leaf, an anther, aroot, a root tip, a pistil, a petiole, a flower, a parthenocarpic fruit,a stem, or a stalk.
 8. A cucumber plant regenerated from the tissue orcell culture of cucumber variety NUN 55516 CUP, wherein the plant hasall of the physiological and morphological characteristics of the plantof variety NUN 55516 CUP, when the characteristics are determined at the1% significance level for plants grown under the same environmentalconditions, and wherein a representative sample of seed of cucumbervariety NUN 55516 CUP is deposited under Accession Number NCIMB 43479.9. A method of producing the plant of claim 1, said method comprisingvegetative propagation of at least a part of the plant of variety NUN55516 CUP, wherein a representative sample of seed of said cucumbervariety is deposited under Accession Number NCIMB
 43479. 10. The methodof claim 9, wherein said vegetative propagation comprises regenerating awhole plant from said part of the plant of variety NUN 55516 CUP,wherein a representative sample of seed of said cucumber variety isdeposited under Accession Number NCIMB
 43479. 11. The method of claim 9,wherein said part is a cutting, a cell culture or a tissue culture. 12.A vegetative propagated plant of variety NUN 55516 CUP, or a partthereof, wherein the vegetative propagated plant has all of thephysiological and morphological characteristics of the plant of varietyNUN 55516 CUP, when the characteristics are determined at the 1%significance level for plants grown under the same environmentalconditions, and wherein a representative sample of seed of cucumbervariety NUN 55516 CUP is deposited under Accession Number NCIMB 43479.13. A method of producing a cucumber plant, said method comprisingcrossing the plant of claim 1 with a second cucumber plant at leastonce, and selecting progeny from said crossing and optionally allowingthe progeny to form seed.
 14. A plant of cucumber variety NUN 55516 CUPfurther comprising a transgene conferring a desired trait, wherein saidplant has all of the morphological and physiological characteristics ofthe plant of variety NUN 55516 CUP, wherein a representative sample ofseed of said cucumber variety is deposited under Accession Number NCIMB43479, when said characteristics are determined at the 1% significancelevel for plants grown under the same environmental conditions, andwherein the desired trait is male sterility, herbicide tolerance, insectresistance, pest resistance, disease resistance, environmental stresstolerance, modified carbohydrate metabolism, or modified proteinmetabolism.
 15. A method of making double haploids of cucumber varietyNUN 55516 CUP, said method comprising making doubled haploid cells fromhaploid cells of NUN 55516 CUP, wherein a representative sample of seedof cucumber variety NUN 55516 CUP is deposited under Accession NumberNCIMB
 43479. 16. A plant comprising the scion or rootstock of claim 2.17. A container comprising the plant, plant part or seed of claim
 1. 18.A food or feed product or a processed product comprising the plant partof claim
 2. 19. A method of producing a cucumber fruit, said methodcomprising: a. growing the plant of claim 1 until it sets fruit; and b.collecting the fruit of step a).
 20. A method of producing a cucumberplant having a desired trait, said method comprises mutating ortransforming a plant of variety NUN 55516 CUP and selecting a plant withthe desired trait, wherein the mutated plant contains the desired traitand retains all of the physiological and morphological characteristicsof variety NUN 55516 CUP, and wherein a representative sample of seed ofcucumber variety NUN 55516 CUP is deposited under Accession Number NCIMB43479, when said characteristics are determined at the 1% significancelevel for plants grown under the same environmental conditions.